This weekend my writer’s group, Melanee, Charlotte, MaryAlice and I, went to a writers retreat at Roasio Beach. At the last second my friend’s husband hijacked the Ford Exposition, we were supposed to take.
That left us with the opportunity to apply the engineering degree none of us has, into fitting our gear into the trunk of Charlotte’s small, four-door sedan. Of course, when we opened it we had the delightful surprise of discovering that before we crammed our intrinsic valuables into the postage size trunk, we had to unload the five thousand pounds of bark dust and other garden paraphernalia that had been living in there for the past five months and had missed this years planting.
Fortunately, we had all packed light. After all, we were only going to be gone two nights. Unfortunately I packed so light I forgot my underwear. Not a happy camper!
In addition to our suitcases, we had four computers, four sleeping bags, extra coats, pillows, and towels, plus two boxes of books we had written and wanted to sell. Then we crammed in snacks and the very large framed caricature of my family that I was using as a prop for the class I was teaching.
Miracles do happen. We finally managed to fit everything in. If we were careful not too do any deep breathing we might make it. We were just about to get a shoehorn and squeeze ourselves into the car when by some fluke of fate, I prefer to think it was my keen sense of observation, I happened to look behind me. I saw something that looked like a sleeping bag packed in it’s duffel bag, lying on the neighbors lawn.
“Hey MaryAlice are your neighbors going camping too? It looks like they have a sleeping bag in their yard.”
She saw the bag. “I don’t think so.”
Melanee stared at it hard. “I think it’s mine.”
MaryAlice has a driveway steep enough that if she added a loop on the other end she would have her own rollercoaster. Melanee ran down the driveway across the street and into the neighbor’s yard.
MaryAlice shouted. “It looks like an unattended backpack or something. Maybe we should call the police. It could be a bomb.”
Charlotte and I looked at each other. I rolled my eyes and started to laugh.
“I think her brain is working overtime on a new book.” Charlotte was laughing too.
Melanee picked up her sleeping bag and jogged back up the hill. "I guess we could take turns holding it out the window," she laughed.
We decided breathing was overrated and managed to cram it into the car.
By the time we got to Rosario Beach, we were a little light headed but ready to meet new friends and authors.
One of the friends I met was Janette Rallison. Her clean, fun and humorous young adult romances happen to be a huge hit on the national market. Janette is giving away a copy of my book, Mother’s Daze, on her blog site.
Be sure to visit her blog and make a comment. If you mention that you are a follower of my blog you get triple points. Find her blog by scrolling down under my picture on the right hand side. Click on her link.
Good luck. If you are looking for good books for your young adults, I highly recommend Janette’s.
5 comments:
:) We did have a marvelous time, now didn't we? Janette's writing presentations were packed with excellent information. What an articulate, down-to-earth, humorous lady. Can't wait to go back next year!
Was that Rosario Beach in Mexico??? Wow. Okay. I'm going to J's blog! Want to win your book!
No Rosario Beach in Washington but it was still WOW!!! LOL
Hey I heard you packed so light you forgot your underwear! Eeeeew!
Love your blog Jane! And I loved meeting you!
Kersten Campbell
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